India dissolves patented drug pricing panel

The Indian government has decided to dissolve the panel that was aimed at creating a mechanism to reduce prices of patented drugs in the country

The Indian Department of Pharmaceuticals has set up a new inter-ministerial committee with four representatives from various ministries to look at the issue

Singapore: In a bid to derive a way to negotiate and bring down the prices of patented drugs in India, the government had set up a panel six years back. However, in a recent move the Indian government decided to dissolve the panel and dump the report prepared by the body at the start of this year.

India's Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has set up a new inter-ministerial committee with four representatives from various ministries. One representative each from the country's DoP, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to resolve the issue.

Sources told Indian publication, Business Standard that, "The earlier committee and its report have been shelved because the department is of the view that market dynamics have changed over the years. Medicines that were available in the past have also changed along with the dynamics of companies selling these medicines and their market shares."

The earlier committee had seven members, representatives from DoP, NPPA, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) and Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), which approves medicines for marketing in the country.